Richard Henry
Research Associate

Profile

Biography

I am Finds Liaison Officer for Wiltshire with a specialism in Roman numismatics and artefacts. I have been involved with the Portable Antiquities Scheme since 2006 and worked as the FLO for Wiltshire since 2013. As part of my MSc I critiqued the Historic Environment Record as a tool for archaeological research using south west Wiltshire as a case study.

I co-direct the Past Landscapes project with Dr David Roberts. Steve Roskams has led the excavations. The project is re-evaluating South Wiltshire primarily using PAS data. I am also the curator of Terry Pratchett: HisWorld exhibition at the Salisbury museum which began because of a discovery made in the Past Landscapes project.

I am a Member of the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists.

Research

Overview

My artefactual research focuses on a range of aspects of artefact studies including typologies, deposition, as well as repairs and reuse. I have undertaken a number of research projects on numismatic analysis and placing artefacts within their landscape context.

Woodcutts

In 2015 64 unpublished coins from the Romano-British village of Woodcutts were discovered in the stored in Salisbury museum. I compiled a catalogue for the coins and compared the assemblage against the remainder of the assemblage from Woodcutts. The assemblage is highly unusual and follows a broad pattern noted in the past where from Salisbury to Purbeck sites are weaker in the 4th century. From my work as a FLO I noted that this pattern is more complex and compared sites within a defined study area. After numismatic analysis and interrogation in GIS it became clear that the trend noted by Moorhead occurs to the south of Bokerley Dyke.

Pewsey bronze vessel hoard

Archaeological and artefactual research into a recent discovery of a number of bronze vessels and significant environmental material including flowers found by metal detectorists, the findspot was subsequently excavated by a team directed by David Roberts. Preliminary analysis is currently being undertaken and the hoard as part of a collaborative project with Historic England, University of Southampton and Oxford University. The interim report was published in WANHM and the final report is in preparation to be submitted to Britannia.

Past Landscapes Project

This recently established project investigates the Bronze Age to Roman landscapes of southern and south-western Wiltshire using a suite of landscape techniques and excavation. The project developed in response to very significant recent finds by various metal detectorists in the region, and aims to investigate the landscape context of several newly discovered nationally important sites displaying major continuity through these periods. I co-direct this project with Dr David Roberts (Historic England) collaborating with the University of York, British Museum and Salisbury Museum. The Society of Antiquaries is the lead funder for the project.